DIPTI – perhaps you’re familiar with this acronym.  Middle school students from all four of Downey’s campuses will become experts in DIPTI: Design, Ideation, Prototyping, Testing, and Implementation.  Whether you’re making a paper airplane or designing a creative solution to a problem with a deeper impact, the process is the same.

Approximately 5 students from each campus – Doty, Griffiths, Stauffer, and Sussman – gathered at the Columbia Memorial Space Center on Friday, September 8th to hold the inaugural meeting of this year’s innovation challenge.  From now, until the new year, these students will come together two Fridays each month to develop a challenge of their own.

Come February of 2018, just a few short months from now, these middle school students will have devised a worthy challenge for their peers.  This is an awesome opportunity for Downey’s students to gain insight into the design mindset and how it can be used to successfully overcome challenges, find creative solutions, and gain insight into the world we live in.

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project taking place at DUSD.

*Mission: IMPACT is an activity brought to DUSD by Carrot, a para-education organization that works with schools to grow student involvement and agency.